Category: Gardening in SC

More Bowl Dinners: Lamb Chops and Meatloaf

*I wrote this post last week, and this week has been so busy. I’m at the 11-month occupation of my new home, and the builder sends in various subs to fix things that got missed in the first inspection. Sometimes you don’t see things at first, but you do after living in a new home for almost a year. And there are things that range from the simple to the more problematic that need fixing or adjusting.

Grilled lamb chops, baby bok chop with onion and sweet peppers cooked in the air fryer, and rice I froze and defrosted.

Leftovers!

Meatloaf, okra with butter, and roasted butternut squash with fresh garlic and rosemary dressed with olive oil.

Here’s the herb garden these days. The tall plat on the right is lavender, and there is some chive between the sage and the lavender. The oregano is going wild, so I trimmed it back and am drying those stems in the kitchen. When dried, I’ll strip off the stems and save the leaves for winter use.

So…

That butternut squash…

Normally roasted it would have a dense candied sweetness to combine with the garlic, rosemary, and olive oil. I have always looked forward to this dish in the fall.

But this squash was absolutely tasteless. Likely it was picked green and had not had time yet to develop its sugars. It’s hard to tell before one cuts into one of these winter squashes. Maybe if I had held it longer it would have “ripened.” This squash is a good keeper. But I’ll pay more attention next time. An over-ripe one is too mushy. So, I guess it is a bit of a crap shoot.

Beggars’ Lice

Last Sunday we gathered at Mike and Tami’s to celebrate Debbie’s birthday (Tami’s mother). Mike and Tami had been hard at work with various garden projects, which resulted in this kind of “beggar’s lice” sticking to their pants. And, to the dogs, which took some days to rectify once the seeds got wound up with the dogs’ hair.

“Beggar’s Lice” are seeds that a “weed” plant produces. The seeds have POWERFUL gripping power if one brushes up next to the host plant. I grew up with the name “Beggar’s Lice,” but there are other regional names for this seed. And, several plant species that produce this kind of seed.

If you google “beggar’s lice,” a page will appear with lots of pictures and links to information about his seed, like this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackelia_virginiana

While Michael was organizing our dinner, we women gathered to try to get the “lice” off of the various clothing items. Tami had already spent about three hours the night before trying to get the lice off a pair of her pants. (Debbie is on the left and granddaughter Mina, on the right.). We tried the flat edge of knives, spoons, and a carrot peeler to scrape off the seeds. It was easier to get them off the jeans than the knit-type fabric in the above picture.

While we “persevered,” Mike made us a beautiful dinner. Here’s my bowl–which is missing the beautiful sliced heritage tomatoes dressed with minced herbs, avocados, and fresh mozzarella balls. Mike grilled the chicken breasts, zucchini, and sweet peppers. The grain salad is barley and contains more diced veggies. It was dressed with olive oil. (You could add an acid, like lemon juice or vinegar.) Mike’s salads are always fun: this one had radicchio included, which I love. And the hard boiled eggs are a colorful and nice inclusion.

I can say that we were “eating the rainbow” with this meal.

Sunburned Azaleas

The five white azaleas out front have struggled with how the sun hits them all summer. They are badly sunburned–and now you can see them trying to “green up” their leaves as the angle and the intensity of the sun has moved into fall/winter coolness. These plants were a bad choice by the builder’s landscape sub, given the intensity of the summer sun and no shade until about 3 pm.

Today I got help from Andres Hernandez with moving and replacing these plants–which was a great relief as I did not want to dig and augment with sand and compost another five holes in the clay.

The azaleas will be much happier on this shady side of the house–and the Asiatic Jasmine will continue to grow up around them.

We replaced these azaleas with five white Encore azaleas–which are a cross between rhododendrons and azaleas, are much sturdier, and will bloom until it gets too cold.

Here’s one with a bloom intact:

Here’s the front bed now. These new plants will get about 4 feet by 4 feet. We moved two of them in the middle forward to give the Chinese Holly more room, but the Encores will form a kind of understory to the hollies. BUT, I do not want this front bed to get too tall for the windows behind it.

It was a really nice morning–and I watered while Andres rehomed and planted. So now, it is about to RAIN. LOL, of course it is.

That Grass is Blooming PINK

It is Muhly Grass, and I see it planted everywhere. It’s around homes, and it’s in islands in the middle of roads, and it’s in shopping area parking lots. It’s everywhere in this region. And it is a “sweetgrass” plant.

It also comes in a white version that I saw just the other day. Here is the pink variety along the entrance to my development.

When the sun catches the blooms, they glow. The white ones literally look like spot lights swaying in the wind.

All of these blooming grasses have delighted me over the years, and I had other blooming grasses, not the Muhly, in my Virginia and Maine gardens. Muhly “sweetgrass” is new to me.

The road outside of my development has palms and Muhly grass planted. But this Muhly grass won’t be blooming this year, and that’s because it’s being “harvested” by local people in the dark of the night for “sweetgrass basket” making, which is a big market here. The harvesters pick stems from the middle of a Muhly grass, leaving the outside stems intact.

Here is a link to more Muhly grass information from Clemson University, which has a big horticultural division.

https://www.clemson.edu/cafls/demo/plant_profiles/muhlenbergia-capillaris-pink-muhly-grass.html

Tami and Debbie Visit The Medway Community Garden

Saturday afternoon, DIL Tami and her mother Debbie visited the Medway Community Garden in Charleston. I was invited and couldn’t go, so Tami took pictures and the little video below of this pollinator garden.

A reminder, Tami is the Director and Co-Founder of The Bee Cause. She texted me with this message: “A beautiful afternoon at Medway Community Garden. The pollinators were plentiful in this beautiful pollinator habitat donated by The Bee Cause and installed by Charleston Parks Conservancy. We also got to meet and chat with the author of The Ark of Taste.” There was also a potluck supper.

A video of the garden.

And the new book:

From a review on the Slow Food USA web site: “The Ark of Taste is a living catalog of our food heritage and a movement to preserve gastronomic treasures passed down for generations—some rare, some endangered, all delicious. Created by Slow Food, the Ark illuminates the history, identity and taste of these unique food products, many of which were revived or saved from extinction by their Slow Food champions.”  

And: “The Ark of Taste book features the stories of how some of these American products almost didn’t reach our table, with recipes from Slow Food chefs and profiles of growers from around the country.”

https://slowfoodusa.org/ark-of-taste-book/

As you know from this blog, I have planted pollinator plants in my new garden. And Tami has been working hard in her garden in recent days. She is developing a space where she would like to plant a pollinator garden–and that space is near her bee hive.

On a very happy note, Tami recently harvested some honey from that hive, and she generously gave me 12 jars of that beautiful honey–which I am busily lapping up.

The dried blooms are from the Panicle Hydrangea “Limelight.” In Maine, these big blooms would turn a gorgeous deep red color; here with the heat, they just turn brown. I clipped these blooms when they were just starting to show flecks of red in the petals, but before they started to turn brown. I put them in this vase with no water and let them further dry out inside. They will hold their color through most of the winter.

Drying hydrangea blooms is tricky. I’ve found it best to wait until they are starting to dry on the plant before clipping them. And even then, they might shrivel up once inside.

A Mid-Week Update: September 2023

Good Morning!

It’s Wednesday, and I’ll be off to the Wando Library this morning to meet the Patchwork Gals, who meet there once a month. They are a “splinter” group of the regional Cobblestone Quilters group.

I actually went to the Wando library to “rent” more books yesterday morning. I can buy, for $1 each, books featured on a kiosk in the library. After I’m done, I return the books so they can be recirculated again. Here’s what I brought home yesterday.

I’m reading the Oysterville Sewing Circle, by Susan Wiggs. She’s a new author for me, and trying out new authors or revisiting ones I know is…fun.

And, here is my current book marker: a recent card from friend Betsy Maislen, who made this gorgeous “Hunter’s Star” quilt designed by Bonnie Hunter.

I started loading the “Summer Camp” mystery quilt on the longarm yesterday. The next step is to baste it before quilting it.

And I’m making progress with hand-quilting Traverse. I started in the middle and am nearing the end of one side. That gold bar below the green crosses is about half way.

I’m liking the use of thread colors that don’t stand out and the texture that is developing. AND, my stitches on the back are getting better as my hands learn Tara Faughnan’s method of quilting with a bigger needle, thicker threads, and without a hoop. (She has a good online class on hand quilting.)

I did finish the dark gold row above last night and am thinking about how to quilt that next big bar.

Back in Maine, when I had packed up all my quilting things for moving, I set up a little sewing area and started piecing 1 1/2 and 2-inch squares that I had cut from the Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society project. The 1 1/2 squares went into four-patch blocks, light and dark. So when “Summer Camp” came off the design wall (which I vacuumed yesterday), I got out the bin with the four patch blocks and started sewing some together to create an 8-inch block.

Yes, but maybe this way…if I have enough squares to do something like 3 by 3 rows. These are just pinned, not sewn. I can see one of the 2-inch 4-patches as the corner stones. But who knows?

Meanwhile, the Mexican sage plant burst into bloom. That plant is new to me. (It got thirsty before the recent rain, thus the yellow? Unless it is getting ready to go dormant as it is now fall?)

The blooms are quite awesome, aren’t they?

And with the cooler weather, I’ve been walking more–but on the shady side of this mostly quiet road that runs outside my development. There are two schools on the left side, and my development is ahead about 1/4 mile on an entry road to the left.

Enjoy your day today, everyone!

Big Mexican Petunias and Big Red Quilt Top Finished

Good morning!

It is a “murky” kind of Wednesday morning here today. And the temps are cooler. Maybe we will get a bit of rain. Maybe I will have dinner on the porch today.

On Monday morning, I took my grill propane tank to the local True Value hardware store to have it refilled.

Look what is growing along the fence surrounding the propane station: full size Mexican Petunias. This plant is extremely hardy and aggressive.

My little dwarf version is thriving out front, and these are just the cutest little plants which bloom their hearts out. They will spread, yes, but I want them to fill up the bed where they are–as a sturdy and colorful border.

I finished the “big red” quilt top last night–I have not yet come up with a name I like. I really like the soft Kona Thistle sashing and will bind with it.

Here is a close-up. “Red Delight” maybe?

I finished the backing for “Bonanza,” the big half-square triangle quilt last night and will start loading this project on the longarm today likely. “Happy” (formerly known as “the quilt from hell”) is waiting to go on the longarm for hand-sewing basting.

Now, I am putting the “Summer Camp” mystery blocks from the Modern Quilt Society on the design wall and will leave them up there for a while as I know I’ll move those blocks around a lot before I commit to their final placement. Already I am moving the blocks around in the rows that are going up.

The hand-quilting on Traverse is going well–I’ve almost finished the green row with chartreuse squares. I’m liking the texture that is not trying to cover up the block patterns. And my hand quilting with Tara Faughnan’s method is getting way more reliable, so I don’t have to check the back so often.

And that’s all the news fit to share here for today!

Have a good one everyone.

The Bee Cause

DIL Tami Enright shared this informative interview on South Carolina ETV the other day.

I think some of you might enjoy it.

Tami is a co-founder of The Bee Cause and its Director. The Bee Cause now has hives in all 50 states and in some international countries.

In this video, Tami not explains the history of The Bee Cause but what we can each do in our lives to help create a habitat for bees. Small acts can make a difference.

No bees, no food.

A Crape Myrtle

I’ve been worried about this tree in my front yard–a willow oak planted by the developer.

These trees are hardy here, yes. But they will get HUGE and will dwarf the house, the front yard, the street and the neighborhood. Plus the roots that develop get huge and thick and can spread far and wide–disrupting…the street, the driveway, the house foundation (?), and so on. I am hearing some real horror stories.

So, I contacted Estaben Hernandez (EstebanHernandez Luxury Painting). Estaben is also a carpenter, and his brother has a landscape business. These two guys are a part of a network of young men who are hard and willing workers. Estaben made taking out the willow oak and replacing it with a gorgeous Crape Myrtle an easy event. And I am so grateful. He and his guys chose a beautiful tree for me. (I wanted a watermelon pink color.) And the willow oak went to one of the guy’s brother’s house, where there was ample room for it.

I made a trip to Loews and got new pine straw for these two beds and put it down myself. The pine straw is light to move and easy to put down.

Now, all I have to do is pay attention to how much water this new tree is getting. And I already do that with the grass and the beds I have planted. (The roses are blooming like crazy again and are so cheerful. The flowers are smaller, but that’s due to the heat.)

I find myself following the afternoon thunderstorm possibilities–especially in the strong heat we have had recently. (It was 102 on my back porch one afternoon last week.) You would think this storm would have provided some good rain. Well, it did for some west of me. For sure. We didn’t get one drop out of these scary clouds.

But we did get a good rain a day Saturday evening. So I’m good on the watering for one more day. I usually water early evening, so the plants can take all the water in without the sun drying everything out too fast. The night temps are in the 80s, so leaves don’t stay wet long. Plus, the extreme heat would fry a plant’s leaves that were wet if I watered during the day. Early morning watering might be ok, but is not as ideal as early evening watering.

Today it is a bit cooler. High 80s and into the 90s mid to late afternoon. It is late July in the tropics–and August is coming. My house is cool–I run a dehumidifier upstairs in the afternoons–and floor fans on low to keep the air moving–and that helps a lot. High humidity makes everything feel hotter.

The Herbs

The first thing I planted when I got here was herbs.

The herbs are thriving!

In the bed by the screen door, I have rosemary, sage, two kinds of thyme, chives, and lavender.

I purchase fresh dill at the local grocery store–and it lasts for a good 10 days. Dill is harder to grow (for me anyway) for some reason.

I just moved the three rosemary plants from the big container on the porch to the outside as I thought they needed actual dirt.

The mint, basil, Italian parsley, and now one of the rosemary plants are around by the back hose–where it is easy to give them water. The yellow leaves are an indication that they need water and less heat. (It was 102 on my screened porch late yesterday afternoon.)

My grandmother’s mint is growing well on the other side of the house–at the end of the long bed there in a spot that is sunny for most of the day. It’s happy there.

I can’t imagine cooking without fresh herbs, especially in the summer.

A friend sent me this article about plants that repel bugs. I was amazed at how many of these plants are in my gardens here.

https://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/gardening/outdoor/plants-that-repel-bugs

Here’s the big container pot on the porch now.

The Asiatic Jasmine (which is not jasmine) is spreading well. It will cover that bed by next summer I think. My grandmother’s mint is at the far end. Recall that my SIL in Maine had some mint from my Maine garden, and she mailed some to me about a month ago.

This plant was installed by the builder. It’s a Chinese Holly and is very hardy here. I have about 5 of these plants around the front of the house. This one has been loved. I’ve watered it and fertilized it.

Here’s one that was waiting for its house to be occupied by renters and has not had any care. I was interested in the difference between the two plants in color and in the presence of mold, or whatever that white stuff is.

Part of what sold my house in Maine was my beautiful gardens there. And the healthy habitat I had created. It’s too bad landlords don’t realize that an investment in plantings will help sell a home for more money.